eWestern Birds

Contents

MAIN ARTICLES

New and Extralimital Records of Breeding Birds for Putah Creek, California
John A. Trochet, Andrew Engilis, Jr., Melanie L. Truan, Irene E. Engilis, Robert A. Walsh, Edward Whisler, and Kristen E. Dybala

Tag-Team Takeover: Usurpation of Woodpecker Nests by Western Bluebirds
Samuel Cowell, Kim Sullivan, Hannah Domgaard, Sara Lorscheider, Mariah Panoussi, Lindsey Parrish, Taryn Rodman, Teresa Lorenz, and Phil Fischer
Video links are here

Geographic Variation and Intergradation in the Elegant Quail
Diego C. Blanco, Devon A. DeRaad, and James M. Maley

Notes on Eurasian Barn Swallows in Alaska, Including the First Documentation of Successful Breeding in North America
Bryce W. Robinson and Lucas H. DeCicco

Featured Photo: Identification of Male Euphagus Blackbirds in Fresh Fall Plumages
Lukas J. Musher, Peter Pyle, David S. Irons, and James R. Tietz

Front cover photo by © Andrew Engilis, Jr., of Davis, California: Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) at Lake Solano County Park, Solano Co., California, 11 November 2010—the female of the first pair of the Pileated Woodpecker confirmed nesting on the floor of California’s Central Valley along Putah Creek. Along with multiple other sightings of individuals and pairs along Putah Creek since 2001, it represents a downslope extension of the species’ range.

Back cover: “Featured Photos” by © Lukas J. Musher of New York, New York (upper), and Dan Brown of Sacramento, California (lower): Fresh-plumaged male Brewer’s Blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus) at Southeast Farallon Island, San Francisco Co., California, 5 October 2013 (upper) and in Sonoma County, California, 18 November 2010. Both have the plumage extensively edged brown, leading to possible confusion with the Rusty Blackbird (E. carolinus), especially when seen or photographed in low light.